We're on a mission to to process urban waste in a sustainable manner within a residential locality.

Leaf Composting

A sustainable alternative for waste management

Kora3B Compost is a not-for-profit initiative by the Koramangala 3rd Block Residents Welfare Association to manage leaf litter in the locality of Bangalore. This is run in collaboration with BBMP who collect leaf litter and provide space for composting. The leaves undergo natural aerobic composting and with simple additives of water and cowdung, are converted into high quality organic leaf compost.

The organic compost is supplied to buyers across the city in quantities from a few kilos to several tons.

Wealth off Waste

Local leaf composting has the dual advantage of reducing waste that would have otherwise been transported to landfills outside the city or burnt on the street leading to more pollution. Processing at source also reduces pollution by waste transport.

Every autumn season, the streets in a green locality like Bangalore generate hundreds of truckloads of leaf and garden waste. This is now converted to wealth instead of being disposed without any value recovery.

Impact

We let the results speak for themselves.

300 Tons of urban waste

Waste processed annually that would otherwise be burnt or carted by over 1500 auto trips and dumped in a landfill

15 Tons Compost per month

Compost produced every month

500+

Clients served

What is Compost

Learn how we convert organic waste into a rich produce

Leaf Composting

What is composting

Composting is a natural process of breaking down organic matter into simpler compounds that can be absorbed as nutrients by plants. Leaf composting utilizes leaves as the organic matter. Dry leaves are rich in carbon and decompose naturally over a long time period. Composting speeds up the process.

Natural organic matter decompose aerobically by the action of microorganisms like bacteria that need oxygen. Aerobic process is faster than anaerobic decomposition which is slower, taking years for leaves to fully decompose.

Aerobic decomposition is mainly by thermophilic bacteria which thrive at very high temperatures of 40-60 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, most other organisms are killed. This decomposition also mainly generates carbon dioxide and no smelling Nitrous oxides or ammonia is produced.

This is different from another popular form of composting: Vermi compost which uses earthworms to feed on the bio-mass. Vermi compost requires close attention and ideal conditions for the worms to grow.

Compared to the other methods, the Windrow composting process used by Kora3B Compost employs naturally occurring microbes for aerobic decomposition at large scale. This process is much simpler to manage, needs less space and also produces good quality manure.

Process

Elements for decomposition

Aerobic decomposition is a comlpetely naturlal process where mother nature when give the rigth conditions cooks up a miracle. All she needs is some key ingredients:

The pile of leaves needs to be monitored regularly to ensure all these elements are in the optimal range. Add another key ingredient, 'time' and wait, nature takes over and cooks up some wonderful compost!

Dry piles are watered to add just enough moisture. Too much moisture could lead to rotting due to lack of air reaching the micro-organisms.

Dry leaves are rich in carbin. The bacteria require nitrogen as well to grow. Addition of cowdung improves the nitrogen ratio. The cowdung also aacts as a disinfectant killing off germs and flies. The bacteria also require a high temperature to grow and the pile naturally heat up as they grow.

Organisms

The workforce of nature

Leaf composting process used here is mainly aerobic decomposition. The main agent for decomposition are thermophilic bacteria. These are microscopic single celled primitive organisms found freely in nature.

Their growth increases the temperature of the leaf pile to very high levels of over 50 degrees. This process kills off any other pathogens. So the leaf compost is also sterilizes the compost pile removing other unwanted organisms.

Post the main phase of decomposition, there are other bacteria like actynomycetes. These give the characteristic wet-earth smell to the compost.

I want to learn more

More resources on composting

Here are some references where you can learn more about the composting:

Composting and gardening is great community activity. if you would like to set up one in your community, we are happy to help.

You can also help by stopping waste being disposed on the streets. majority of the effort in composting is segregation of inorganic waste from leaves and this also determines quality of compost. You can help in a big way by stopping waste being disposed on the streets.

Products

We produce organic compost from leaves. The compost is free from any synthetic additives and has C:N ratio of 22:1. it is rich in Nitrogen naturally and is not acidic too. this has been tested for quality by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.

The following varieties are produced. They all are made from the same leaf composting process and are roughly equivalent in composition of Nitrogen and other essential elements for plants. They only differ in the extent of processing after composting.

Superior Compost

Fine compost

The compost is double sieved with a smaller wire mesh to generate a fine compost powder with small granules less than 4mm in size.This is more suitable for potted plants as well as soil application.

Price: Rs. 8/kg*

Rough Compost

Mulch and compost

The compost passes through a large sieve to remove large inorganic matter. This contains compost powder and larger sized organic matter like partially decomposed leaves. This is suitable for direct application into soil where the organic matter undergoes further composting and releases nutrients over a longer period of time. This can also be used as mulch on top of the soil to prevent evaporation.

Price: Rs. 4/kg*

*: Price subject to change based on availability of stock and processing conditions. This price is determined to just cover the labour and material costs.

We have retail and wholesale clients across Bangalore from kitchen gardens at home to nurseries and landscapers.

Indo American Hybrid Seeds

A nursery in Bangalore

Indian producer of vegetable, agricultural and flower seeds and saplings of flowers, herbs, spices, fruits, rice, etc. They are a large scale buyer or the rough Kora3B Compost for the past many years for their pots and germination beds.

Home gardens

Home gardners across Bangalore

Home gardeners across Bangalore pick up compost regularly in quantities ranging from 10 - 500 kg for their terrace gardens, kitchen gardens for small herbs to fruit trees.

Squarefoot Farmers

Urban Farm, Landscaping

A modular gardening concept designed in squares that uses compost in planters for herbs in terraces and gardens as well as large landscapes. They delivery products and solutions across Bangalore and Karnataka.

SAAHAS

Waste management services

SAAHAS is a non-profit that helps process waste through sustainable methods. They provide waste management services to commercial establishments and residences across Bangalore. They use dry leaves and semi-composted matter from Kora3B Compost for their wet waste composting to absorb moisture and add additional carbon.